I’m only one person. And so are you. And although our generation has been fucking incredible at speaking up and raising awareness about things, there’s only so much “changing the planet” that one soul can realistically achieve. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try. No way. That should mean we try more. Circumstances, money and a whole bunch of other reasons are why sometimes, we physically just cannot do more to help. It’s a shame but it’s life. I was thinking about this topic the other day and I wanted to try and concoct a little list of things we can do – small, easy things that encourage us to “do our bit” for the planet and for humanity. Even down to the smallest gesture. Because if everyone performed one small gesture, we could change the world.
Sign petitions: Oh the power of the internet. I don’t ever remember signing petitions, let alone petitions online until about 2 years ago. Although one signature won’t stop pit bulls being put down for no reasons or won’t release Orcas from their confined enclosures at Sea World, the masses have the power to do extraordinary things. For the sake of 2 minutes while you’re scrolling through Facebook, sign a petition you believe in. It costs nothing, takes no time but every damn signature counts towards a better cause.
Donate to charity: This one comes quite easily and naturally to me because I hate hoarding. I cannot bare to keep stuff that I don’t really want or need and you will frequently find me having a complete room clear-out. I don’t mean like, a quick tidy up I mean a full-on every cupboard, every drawer, every piece of paper. I love donating my unwanted things to charity and there’s so many different ways to do that. I will donate my old books to the royal British Legion or a local animal sanctuary. Put old clothes in clothes banks or clothes donation bags that get dropped through your letterbox or traditionally, just popping down to a charity shop.
Do something nice for someone: Imagine how much nicer the world would be if every person did one nice thing for someone else, every single day? A nice gesture can go an awfully long way, especially as we rarely truly know how another person feels on any given day. Your nice gesture could make someone smile who hasn’t done so all day. Can you imagine that? A good while ago now, I wrote a blog post about little acts of kindness, you can find it here and I would love it if you could do just one thing on that list. Let me know in the comments if you do!
Recycle: Oh gosh it angers me when people have the means to recycle but just choose not too because it’s too much “faff”. Here in the UK you can pick up free recycling bags from your local libraries (and probably other places too). It’s just as simple as throwing things in the bin. Plastics, cardboard, paper – throw them in your recycling bag and you are literally done. The benefits of recycling for our planet are so, so big I genuinely don’t know why anyone wouldn’t want to. It reduces green house gases, saves energy, prevents pollution and conserves the planets natural resources. Recycle guys!
ReTweet important things: Almost everyone is on Twitter to some extent and one of the quickest and easiest things to do is retweeting. We all know that because we spend the majority of our time retweeting funny cat photos or stupid memes. It takes the same amount of time to retweet important things you see on Twitter and this is one that I could definitely do more. We are only one retweet but the more people that retweet to their own audience, the more awareness can be spread.
I always try to recycle and feel guilty when I don’t! There are way too many times where I’ll just throw cardboard or bottles into the trash and I wish I hadn’t. Great post!!
Great tips. I frequently donate stuff to charity, sign petitions, and retweet things on Twitter as these take up so little of your time but can do or mean so much. I also try to recycle, although, I admit, I could probably try harder! x